Daddy's Love: Humiliation
by HardyBoyz4Eva
Summary: Hunter/Shield. Randy/Cody/Ted. Hunter's reaction to Roman's suspension has dangerous consequences. Can Hunter fix what he's broken, or is the damage too severe? One-Shot. Full list of warnings inside. Please Review! Sequel to Daddy's Love: Forgiveness.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone.  
 **Rated:** M  
 **Warning(s):** Slash, Foursome, Threesome, Sub!Roman, Sub!Dean, Sub!Seth, Dom!Hunter, Daddy!Hunter, Sub!Cody, Sub!Teddy, Dom!Randy, Daddy!Randy, Daddy Kink, Domestic Violence, Drug Addiction, WWE Wellness Program, Seth's General Ass-Hat Behavior, etc.

 **A/N:** Inspired by Roman's recent suspension. Admittedly, not how I wanted to end this little triolgy about his second reign as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but when I read an article on _Sportskeeda_ about the way Hunter reportedly handled the issue... well, it wasn't pretty. So if he's portrayed very differently here than in the rest of the series, that would be why.

* * *

"What the fuck was that out there, Seth?" Dean hissed, eyes narrowed. Even if Roman's tweet had made his suspension public knowledge, he'd owned up to it. That didn't give Seth the right to exploit it as storyline.

Seth rolled his eyes, "I'm just saying what everyone else was too scared to. No champion worth his salt would have to take performance enhancing drugs to keep the gold around his waist." He said, as if things were that black and white. "No apology can change the things he did."

Dean sighed, "God, you're just like Hunter. Do you not even realize what this is doing to him? Or do you just not care?"

But Seth wouldn't have it, "He's a big boy. He'll spend some time at home, lick his wounds, come back and grovel his way back into Daddy's good graces."

"Were you not paying attention when Hunter ordered him to apologize in front of the entire roster?" Dean scowled. Seriously, sometimes Seth's newfound arrogance really got under his skin. "He was practically _crying_. Roman. Was. Crying. And you don't see anything wrong with that?"

Seth seemed to hesitate for a moment, before that arrogance returned full-force. "He got what he deserved. And if I had my way, he'd be out of the Triple Threat at Battleground, too."

"You're impossible." Dean just shook his head, before adjusting the belt on his shoulder and turning around, walking away.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Seth spat. He'd be damned if Dean was just going to walk away from him in the middle of a conversation. He deserved more respect than that.

Dean didn't even look back, tossing over his shoulder, "To talk to someone that has half a brain."

Seth was positively fuming, but knew better than to follow Dean when he was like this. This wouldn't be the first time an altercation between them turned physical, and Hunter was never pleased when he found his boys bruised by the others hands. Then again, ever since he caught wind of what was going on with Roman... something about their Daddy had changed. He'd been shorter with them, little run-of-the-mill things angering him like they never had before...

Seth suspected it was because Hunter was upset that he hadn't seen the signs, hadn't noticed that something had changed with Roman. Or that he was hurt that Roman felt the only was to keep at the top of the pyramid was to boost himself up with performance enhancing drugs, that he wasn't good enough on his own. Hunter had done his best to cherish their strengths and to help them abolish their weaknesses, so to learn that Roman was keeping this from him...

It wasn't something that Seth particularly liked remembering.

* * *

 **One Week Earlier**

"I don't even know what to say to you right now." Roman refused to meet his eyes, which didn't help Hunter's boiling temper. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!"

Roman's hands clenched at his sides, and he bit his bottom lip until he could taste the coppery tang of blood. "I'm not a boy."

Hunter scowled. Clearly that wasn't the response he wanted. "You are _my_ boy." He said it so forcefully the other man flinched. "And I had faith in you. I _trusted_ you with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship... Apparently, I made a mistake."

Roman was silent, allowing Hunter's words to soak in. Each word was like a knife to the gut, but he continued to stare at the ground with a quiet determination. And that was when everything took a sudden turn for the worse. Suddenly, Hunter had a fistful of Roman's hair and was dragging his head back so that finally, their eyes met. The big man flinched, looking scared for all of thirty seconds before his eyes went flat and he schooled his features into an emotionless mask.

He expected Hunter to hit him, and he'd resigned himself to his fate. Whenever he'd screwed up before, his punishment had been violence. It had seemed like only a matter of time before Hunter turned out to be exactly the same as all the others. They remained like that, perfectly still, for several seconds... before Hunter's eyes widened as he realized what he'd done and released him a bit too forcefully.

Roman stumbled back slightly, before returning his gaze to the floor. Hunter sighed, trying to calm himself down. "Roman -,"

The big man was silent, unmoving... until he drew his arm back and threw his entire body into a devastating punch to the side of Hunter's face. His breathing was labored as he attempted to regain control of himself, failing miserably. His hands shook at his sides, itching to put his hands on the bastard again. The man that had promised to never hurt them... the man that had just _put his hands on him_...

Hunter scowled, "You're out of control, Roman."

"You really think that standing there and belittling me is going to fix _anything_? Like you're magically going to tell me something I haven't already come up with? I've already torn myself apart over what I've done - you really think that you can do worse?"

The words hit Hunter like a punch to the gut, effectively knocking the wind from his lungs. _Of course_ Roman had been beating himself up over what happened, he would never doubt that. But why would he sacrifice his career for something so foolish? "I'm just trying to understand you, Roman."

"Really?" Roman cocked his head to the side, "Because last time I checked, understanding and accusing were two different things."

Hunter shook his head, "There's no denying what you did. You violated the wellness policy and were suspended for it. What I want to know is... _why_?"

But hadn't Hunter made himself abundantly clear just a few moments earlier, when he'd loudly proclaimed his disappointment in Roman's actions and in Roman in general? Admittedly, Roman hadn't expected Hunter to take the news well. He knew that their Daddy would be beyond furious, especially when things finally boiled down to the one question he truly didn't have an answer for: why?

Roman's lack of an answer was answer enough for Hunter. With a low growl, he shoved past Roman and headed toward the door. His back now to his boys, he hissed, "Next week, you will make a public apology to the roster for defiling the sanctity of the title. Until then, get the fuck out of my sight."

* * *

It had been incredibly difficult for Dean and Seth over the last several days, traveling without Roman. Things were especially tense with the upcoming brand extension leering ominously over their heads. Hunter had hinted that a trial separation might be a suitable punishment for what had transpired, and the other two subs had been fretting over the idea of losing their lover in such a way.

Dean had tried calling Roman multiple times, but to no avail. Hunter had even gone so far as to have Roman's cell phone service shut off until his suspension was completed - when both Seth and Dean had complained that he was taking things too far, he had reminded them that this was intended to be a punishment and as such, was not meant to be pleasant.

And if the situation was this difficult on their end, they could only imagine the stress that Roman was enduring all on his own. To be so completely abandoned was not something that anyone would take well, but for Roman the situation was... different.

Their previous dom, Paul Heyman, had felt that the only acceptable punishment for a man such as Roman was physical. In other words, hands-on, brutal (and often mind-numbingly horrific) violence. It meant blood and tears and unimaginable pain... and Roman often found refuge from it inside of his mind. Mentally detaching himself from his body allowed him to endure every punishment without complaint, to retain some measure of sanity after being so totally destroyed.

An hour later, Dean had returned from catering and Seth found himself standing in the exact same place as where he'd left him. Dean raised a brow, before smirking, "I thought we talked about this. Don't think too hard, or you might accidentally hurt yourself."

"Very funny, asshole." Seth playfully punched him on the shoulder, perhaps a bit harder than necessary. And then, his eyes fell to the ground and he whispered, "I was just thinking about... do you think that Rome... he was watching tonight?"

Dean shrugged, "Honestly? Probably not. Why torture yourself with what you can't have, y'know?"

Seth nodded weakly. "Right." But his voice waivered a little, and Dean was not the least bit convinced that that was the end of the discussion.

The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion stared at the slightly taller man for a moment, before tossing himself down on the couch and patting the cushion beside him. "You gonna tell me what else is bothering you, or are we gonna sit here and play twenty questions?"

Seth sighed - without a doubt, Dean had always been more of a nurturer than Roman, but there were some situations where the big man's quiet stoicism soothed Seth far better than words ever could. He couldn't help but wonder if feeling the Roman Empire's massive arms close around him would soothe the raging emotions inside him, because plopping down on the couch beside the Lunatic Fringe was only serving to make him more nervous.

The self-proclaimed Architect began twisting his hands, trying to distract himself from his task. He knew now that confronting his fear was inevitable, and hiding was no longer an option, so he finally forced out... "Do you really think that Daddy will separate us?"

"Seriously? That's all that's bothering you?" Dean rolled his eyes, "You're turning into such a prima donna, Sethie."

Seth flushed, "I might act like an asshole ninety-nine percent of the time, but I actually do care about what happens to us, believe it or not."

Dean's smile fell as he took the opportunity to look deep into Seth's eyes, and saw the real fear that was residing in those swirling brown depths. "What happened with Daddy and Rome a week ago... that really scared you, didn't it?"

Seth stared at the ground like it might swallow him up and save him from this painful conversation. "It reminded me of when... Heyman... he would _do_ things to Roman because I had screwed up somehow. He would make me watch him beat him within an inch of his life, telling me that it was _my_ fault."

"None of that was your fault, Seth. Heyman would've found a reason to beat on Rome regardless of what you'd done. And this... Unfortunately, he did this to himself. He dug the hole, and he has to find a way to climb back out of it."

"I didn't... I didn't mean what I said earlier, about him getting what he deserved. Nobody deserves to be humiliated like that." Seth mumbled.

He might hold firm to his belief that, as Hunter had said, he had tainted the sanctity of the championship by going against the wellness program with the belt around his waist and he didn't _deserve_ another chance at the gold... at least, no so soon on his road to redemption. But to wound a man's pride like that, after it had already taken such a terrific blow by humbling himself in an apology to friends, family, and fans on Twitter... was uncalled for.

"I know." Dean planted a tender kiss on the taller man's forehead. "We'll figure this out, okay? Everything is going to be fine."

* * *

Hunter was practically gasping for breath, standing in the middle of his ruined office. Paperwork was scattered in every imaginable direction, the remnants of a half-drunk cup of coffee dripping off the side of his desk. His desk chair was overturned, one of the wheels still spinning lazily, and his desk was pushed off at an odd angle, unplugged electrical cords going every which way.

He was a grown man in his mid-forties, and he was throwing a tantrum like a two-year-old because he didn't know how to deal with what was perhaps the greatest test he'd been given since the boys had come into his care. This was even harder than when he heard that Dean was sleeping around, or that Seth really thought he wasn't wanted anymore. This was his boy making a conscious decision to destroy himself right under Hunter's nose.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. It wasn't necessarily that he was angry with Roman, but rather that he was angry with himself over what Roman had done and Roman made an easy target.

"You need to get ahold of yourself, Hunter. Destroying your office isn't going to help you sort out this mess." The low baritone startled him, and he turned around quickly to find himself face-to-face with Randy Orton.

Quickly, Hunter attempted to make himself look busy by sorting through the mess of papers he'd just thrown off his desk. "I'm a little busy at the moment, Orton. Can this wait?"

Randy looked around, before fixing Hunter with a pointed glare. "By the looks of things, I don't think it can."

Slowly, Randy made his way over to Hunter's ruined desk, slamming a photograph down directly in front of the COO. It was a photo of two WWE male superstars, easily recognizable as Cody Rhodes and Teddy DiBiase. The actual photo was rather cheesy, with Cody and Teddy laughing as they kissed and tried to block the camera from taking a shot of the headed lip-lock.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Hunter bit out. It had been so long - _too_ long - since he'd held Roman in his arms and seeing others together and _happy_ certainly wasn't helping his temperament.

Randy sighed. "Cody and Teddy are my boys - they have been for almost seven years now. I came and paid bail for Teddy when he was busted for a DUI, and I weathered the emotional storm that came with Cody's dad dying. There isn't _anything_ I wouldn't do for them."

Hunter stared down at the ground, feeling something stir in his own chest. "The love you have for them... it can't be explained in words." Kind of like how he felt for his own boys. The picture radiated warmth and happiness, everything he used to feel when he held his boys in his arms.

"And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they feel the same way about me." Randy said firmly. "So how do you think they felt, finding out that I had violated the Wellness Policy not once, but twice?"

"Randy..." And suddenly Hunter found himself at a loss for words.

The Viper shook his head, "And don't you dare try to spin that it's not the same thing, because you know damn well that it is."

Hunter knew how the boys had taken the news - it hadn't been pleasant. Randy could be described as having a temper on a good day, but the meds did something to him that was difficult to convey to those who hadn't had the misfortune of living through it. His boys had actually, seriously been afraid of him. And that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"I messed up and I owned it. It's not necessarily something that I'm proud of, but I did it and I can't change that fact." Randy said firmly. "Don't you think that you should be proud that Roman had the courage to own up to his mistakes and try to move forward, rather than criticize him for screwing up?"

Hunter couldn't even meet the taller man's eyes, "He couldn't even tell me why."

"Does it really matter why?" At Hunter's silence, Randy sighed. "Think of it this way. After how much pressure was put on him just to obtain the title, he was probably afraid you'd be disappointed when he finally fell off the pedestal."

"I just want him to do the best that he can, and be happy and healthy. Winning matches is great, holding titles fantastic... but it's not what's important."

Randy raised an eyebrow, "Did you ever tell him that?"

Hunter chuckled brokenly, "Don't you think that that would sound a little weird, the boss telling you that it's okay to lose?"

"You know what Cody and Teddy told me, the second time I was suspended?" Hunter shook his head. "They said that they wanted me to live. They were afraid of the path that I was headed down, that it would take me away from them too soon. And they didn't think they could live without me."

Randy's words resonated deeply with him, because he knew the real reason he was so upset was that, if anything were to happen to Roman because of what had happened, he didn't know what he'd do. Especially for something like this, where he should've been aware enough to see the signs that something was happening and stopped it before it got to the point where it had.

Roman and the others meant the world to him, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do in an attempt to secure their physical and emotional well-being. Perhaps he'd gone about conveying that in the wrong way, but the reality of Roman's suspension had hit him like an ice shower and he'd just _reacted_ without thinking. The worst part was that he realized, in his desire to fix things, that he'd _hurt_ Roman... in more ways than one.

"Shit." He bit down on the inside of his mouth hard enough to draw blood. "I need to talk to him. _Now_."

Randy nodded, "That's probably a good idea. But..." He trailed off, looking around the room for a moment. "You might want to think about cleaning up the office first. I don't think this is a mess you're particularly anxious for Vince to see."

* * *

Roman lay in the center of the bed that he shared with the others, silently counting the dots on the ceiling. He was bored out of his mind - with no cell phone service and no cable television, only the most basic of provisions stocking the kitchen, and no-one to talk to for miles, it was almost like he was on house arrest. Granted, he was free to leave whenever he wanted, but he doubted that Daddy would appreciate him shirking his punishment.

Roman snarled - just the thought of the King of Kings was enough to set his blood boiling. "Who the fuck does that bastard think he is, putting his hands on me and then shutting me away like I'm some kind of eyesore..."

With a sigh, Roman composed himself and slid off the bed. There was no use getting upset over what had happened, no matter how badly it still bothered him. In many ways, house arrest was better than most of the punishments Heyman had so creatively concocted. He might be ready to pull out his hair from boredom, but at least he could still get to his feet without collapsing to his knees from the pain.

He thought of perhaps watching the three channels that they got _without_ cable, but quickly brushed the idea aside. The only thing more boring than having absolutely nothing to do would be to watch the weather channel for any extended length of time. So instead, he made his way out to the kitchen and prepared the fixings of a green smoothie - one of the recommended methods of detox in the only book Hunter had left in the house.

"Stupid fuckin' book." He muttered underneath his breath, adding the green apple, spinach, and kale into the blender. "Shoulda just burned it when I had the chance." But really, he didn't want to burn it. Hunter had bought it because he wanted him to use it to get healthy again. So Roman would try.

The smoothie was disgusting... and as much as he hated to admit it, it made him feel a little bit better. Once he'd finished, he set his dish in the sink to wash later and crashed on the couch. He didn't think he'd ever been so bored in his life, or literally been faced with the reality of having _nothing_ to do. If Hunter's goal had been to slowly drive him insane via boredom, it was certainly working.

So that's why, when he heard a key scratching at the lock, he didn't really think too much of it. He'd probably started hearing things to fill the sheer emptiness of the penthouse. "Rome..?" But that actually kind of sounded like Daddy... "Roman, are you up?"

Hunter closed the door softly behind him, before stalking over to the couch. His sudden appearance was met with a scowl that cut him to the quick - he'd prepared himself for the worst, or so he'd thought. But Roman's blatant distaste for him still hurt more than words could convey. "Why are _you_ here?"

"Because I realize that I made an ass of myself earlier, and I need to set things right." Hunter said softly. "There's something I need to tell you."

Roman's dark mood only seemed to worsen. "Oh really? So _now_ you want to talk? Because I thought you made your feelings crystal clear when you put me on house arrest with no phone, no cable, no _anything_... You just wanted me out of your hair so you could pretend like I didn't exist."

Hunter looked as though he'd been struck. "Rome, that wasn't my intention at all. I didn't think that -,"

"You didn't think that shutting me away like this would make me feel like I'm just some nuisance, like you're throwing me away because I fucked up?"

"I would never just _throw you away_ , Roman -,"

"Everyone else did! So why would you be any different?"

For _months_ WWE Creative had been trying to build him into something that he just _wasn't,_ because they wanted to push him and the fans just weren't having it. They had him change _everything_ about himself, down to his fucking _eye color_ , and the WWE Universe just _wasn't having it_. He wasn't valued for his in-ring talent, like Seth, or his skill on the microphone, like Dean. No, he was pretty, and appealed to the mothers that brought their young children...

And in the PG-era, which seemed to be moving farther and farther away from censoring _anything_ , Creative had to keep the pretty ones around that appealed to the mothers. _That_ was what Roman had been relegated to.

And as soon as he screwed up, he'd gotten thrown away. Because as far as they were concerned, he'd never been Grade A material anyhow.

Hunter knelt down in front of Roman, wishing desperately to be able to wipe the tears from his boy's eyes. "Roman... I don't care about the fans, and what they think of you. I wouldn't care if you were dropped down to the jobbers, but I wouldn't want that for you.

"I don't care if you're the champion for two seconds or two years, or never hold another championship belt in your life. If you told me you wanted to retire tomorrow, I would let you - if it would make you happy. As your Daddy, I just want you to be happy, healthy, and safe. That's all I care about.

"What scared me about your Wellness Violation is that I never saw it coming. It means that somehow, somewhere along the line, I failed you. I should've been paying more attention to you, seen how you were struggling, and been there for you in your time of need. But I wasn't.

"So this... _all_ of this... is on me." Hunter finished, his voice scarcely above a whisper.

There it was. The total confession of his shortcomings as their Daddy. Being the COO made it almost impossible to devote as much time as he should to his boys, and so many things that they wanted or needed ended up falling through the cracks because of his utter ineptitude. Roman wasn't the only one walking away from this feeling as though they'd somehow failed in their given role.

Roman stared at Hunter for several moments, allowing his words to sink in. The man was on his knees before him, practically shaking with the desperate desire to touch him but not knowing whether or not that touch would be welcomed. Tears were streaking down the older man's face, leaving tracts that Roman assumed matched his own. Roman swallowed hard, before rising to his feet.

He disappeared down the hallway, shutting the door to their bedroom behind him. And Hunter was left, sobbing in the silence, on his knees.

* * *

 **A/N:** So... that is everything. Not a very happy ending, is it? I have literally been working on this one-shot for _months_ (since his actual suspension), so I'm just glad to have it done. Let me know what you think!


End file.
